Methods of manufacturing thin film transistors using masks to protect the channel regions from impurities while doping a semiconductor layer to form source/drain regions

ABSTRACT

A method of manufacturing a thin film transistor includes forming a semiconductor layer on a substrate; forming a gate insulating layer over the entire surface of the substrate to cover the semiconductor layer; depositing a conductive layer on the gate insulating layer; forming a first photosensitive pattern over the conductive layer; patterning the conductive layer according to the photosensitive pattern to form a gate electrode; and ion-doping an impurity into the semiconductor layer using the photosensitive pattern as a mask to form source and drain regions.

CROSS REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATIONS

This application is a continuation of U.S. patent application Ser. No. 10/166,367, filed Jun. 11, 2002, currently pending, which claims the benefit of Korean Application No. 2001-72465, filed on Nov. 20, 2001, in the Korean Intellectual Property Office, the disclosures of which are incorporated herein in their entirety by reference.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION

1. Field of the Invention

The present invention relates to a method of manufacturing a thin film transistor.

2. Description of Related Art

A flat panel display device includes a thin film transistor (TFT). The thin film transistor employs a lightly doped drain (LDD) structure or an off-set structure in order to prevent a leakage current that occurs in an off state thereof. Recently, research to achieve excellent operability of the thin film transistor, for example, by improving electrical characteristics such as a threshold voltage of a channel layer and electron mobility, has been conducted.

FIGS. 1A and 1B are cross-sectional views illustrating a process of manufacturing a conventional CMOS thin film transistor.

Referring to FIG. 1A, a substrate 10 having a first region 10 a and a second region 10 b is provided. The first region 10 a is a region on which a p-type thin film transistor will be formed, and the second region 10 b is a region on which an n-type thin film transistor will be formed.

A poly silicon layer is deposited and patterned to form first and second semiconductor layers 11 a and 11 b on the first and second regions 10 a and 10 b, respectively. A gate insulating layer 12 is formed over the entire surface of the substrate 10 to cover the first and second semiconductor layers 11 a and 11 b.

A metal layer 13 is deposited on the gate insulating layer 12. A first photosensitive layer (not shown) having first and second photoresist patterns is formed on the metal layer 13. The first pattern of the first photosensitive layer is formed over the first semiconductor layer 11 a, and the second pattern of the first photosensitive layer covers the entire surface of the second region 10 b of the substrate 10. The metal layer 13 is patterned according to the first photosensitive layer, so that a first gate electrode 14 a is formed over the first semiconductor layer 11 a, and the rest of the metal layer 13 covers the entire surface of the second region 10 b. The photoresist pattern is then removed.

A p⁺-type high-density impurity is ion-doped by an ion implanter that employs an ion-shower method to thereby form first high-density source and drain regions 16 a and 16 b.

However, the ion implanter that employs the ion-shower method has no mass separator which removes non-desired impurities (e.g., hydrogen) except a desired impurity (e.g., a p⁺-type impurity) from the doped impurity. As a result, the non-desired impurities such as a hydrogen ion can be doped to even the first and second semiconductor layers 11 a and 11 b.

Subsequently, a second photosensitive layer (not shown) having first and second patterns is formed on the metal layer 13. The first pattern of the second photosensitive layer covers the entire surface of the first region 10 a of the substrate 10, and the second pattern of the second photosensitive layer is formed over the second semiconductor layer 11 b. The rest of the metal layer 13 covering the entire surface of the second region 10 b is patterned according to the second pattern of the second photosensitive layer to thereby form a second gate electrode 14 b.

Using the second photosensitive layer as a mask, an n⁻-type low-density impurity is ion-doped into the second semiconductor layer 11 b to form low-density source and drain regions 18 a and 18 b. The second photosensitive layer is then removed.

A third photosensitive layer having first and second patterns is formed. The first pattern of the third photosensitive layer covers the entire surface of the first region 10 a of the substrate 10. The second pattern of the third photosensitive layer has a greater width than the second gate electrode 14 b and so surrounds the second gate electrode 14 b. Using the third photoresist layer as a mask, an n⁺-type high-density impurity is ion-doped into the second semiconductor layer 11 b to form second high-density source and drain regions 20 a and 20 b. Consequently, the CMOS thin film transistor having a lightly-doped drain (LDD) structure is completed.

However, as described above, the ion implanter that employs the ion-shower method has no mass separator, which removes non-desired impurities except a desired impurity from the doped impurity. Hence, during an ion doping process to form the first high-density source and drain regions 16 a and 16 b of the PMOS thin film transistor, the non-desired impurities such as hydrogen ions are ion-doped to even channel regions of the first and second semiconductor layers 11 a and 11 b under the first and second gate electrodes 14 a and 14 b.

In other words, even though the first gate electrode 14 a and the non-patterned metal layer 13 block the p⁺-type impurity from being ion-doped during an ion doping process to form the first high-density source and drain regions 16 a and 16 b, the hydrogen ions having a relatively small mass pass through the first gate electrode 14 a and the non-patterned metal layer 13 to be ion-doped to even the channel regions of the first and second semiconductors 14 a and 14 b.

For example, in order to ion-dope a boron (B), a B₂H₆ gas is decomposed into B_(X) ⁺, B_(X)H_(Y) ⁺, and H_(X) ⁺. However, since B_(X)H_(Y) ⁺ and H_(X) ⁺ including a hydrogen ion is not removed by the ion implanter that employs the ion shower method, B_(X)H_(Y) ⁺ and H_(X) ⁺ as well as B_(X) ⁺ are ion-doped into the first and second semiconductor layers 11 a and 11 b.

FIG. 2 illustrates a density of a hydrogen ion doped into respective regions of the thin film transistor after an ion-doping process to form the source and drain regions of the PMOS thin film transistor. As can be seen in FIG. 2, the hydrogen ions are doped into even the semiconductor layer.

Even though a small amount of hydrogen ions are ion-doped into the channel region of the semiconductor layer, the doped hydrogen ions affect an interface characteristic between the semiconductor layer and the gate insulating layer, thereby deteriorating electrical characteristics such as a threshold voltage and an electron mobility and a reliability of the resultant thin film transistor.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

Accordingly, it is an object of the present invention to provide a method of manufacturing a CMOS thin film transistor having excellent electrical characteristics and a high reliability.

The foregoing and other objects of the present invention are achieved by providing a method of manufacturing a thin film transistor, comprising: forming a semiconductor layer on a substrate; forming a gate insulating layer over the entire surface of the substrate to cover the semiconductor layer; depositing a conductive layer on the gate insulating layer; forming a first photosensitive pattern over the semiconductor layer; patterning the conductive layer according to the photosensitive pattern to form a gate electrode; and ion-doping an impurity into the semiconductor layer using the photosensitive pattern as a mask to form source and drain regions.

The photosensitive pattern may be made from one of photoresist, acryl, polyimide, and benzocyclobutene.

The method further comprises hard-baking the photosensitive layer at a predetermined temperature before the ion-doping.

The photosensitive layer has a thickness of at least 5,000 Å.

The foregoing and other objects of the present invention may also be achieved by providing a method of manufacturing a thin film transistor, comprising: forming a semiconductor layer on a substrate; forming a gate insulating layer over the entire surface of the substrate to cover the semiconductor layer; depositing a conductive layer on the gate insulating layer; patterning the conductive layer to form a gate electrode, the gate electrode having a density and a thickness sufficient enough to prevent an impurity from passing therethrough; ion-doping an impurity into the semiconductor layer using the photosensitive pattern as a mask to form source and drain regions.

The gate electrode has a thickness of 3,500 Å to 4,500 Å. The gate electrode has a thickness of 3,500 Å to 4,000 Å, and a density of 3.5 g/cm³ to 4.5 g/cm³. The gate electrode is made of Mo, W, or MoW. The gate electrode has a thickness of 4,000 Å to 4,500 Å, and a density of 1.5 g/cm³ to 2.5 g/cm³. The gate electrode is made of Al or AlNd. The gate electrode has one or more layers. The gate electrode comprises at least one of Mo, W, MoW, Al, and AlNd.

The foregoing and other objects of the present invention are achieved by providing a method of manufacturing a thin film transistor, comprising: forming a semiconductor layer on a substrate; forming a gate insulating layer over the entire surface of the substrate to cover the semiconductor layer; depositing a conductive layer on the gate insulating layer; forming a photosensitive pattern on a portion of the conductive layer corresponding to the semiconductor layer; patterning the conductive layer according to the photosensitive pattern to form a gate electrode; removing the photosensitive pattern; forming an impurity shielding layer on the gate electrode; and ion-doping an impurity into the semiconductor layer using the impurity shielding layer as a mask to form source and drain regions.

The impurity shielding layer is made of an insulating layer or a metal layer. The insulating layer includes an oxide layer, a nitride layer and a silicide layer. The metal layer is made of one of Mo, W, MoW, Al, and AlNd. The impurity shielding layer has one or more layers.

The method further comprises: after the ion-doping, removing the impurity shielding layer; forming a second photosensitive pattern having a width greater than the gate electrode, so that the second photosensitive layer surrounds the gate electrode; and ion-doping an impurity into the semiconductor layer using the second photosensitive layer as a mask, thereby forming a lightly doped drain (LDD) region.

The impurity shielding layer has a width greater than the gate electrode so that the second photosensitive layer sourrounds the gate electrode, thereby forming an off-set region.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

These and other objects and advantages of the present invention will become more apparent and more readily appreciated from the following description of the embodiments, taken in conjunction with the accompanying drawings of which:

FIGS. 1A and 1B are cross-sectional views illustrating a process of manufacturing a conventional CMOS thin film transistor;

FIG. 2 illustrates a density of a hydrogen ion doped into respective regions of the thin film transistor after an ion-doping process to form the source and drain regions of the conventional CMOS thin film transistor of FIG. 1;

FIGS. 3A to 3G are cross-sectional views illustrating a process of manufacturing a CMOS thin film transistor according to an embodiment of the present invention;

FIG. 4 illustrates a density of a hydrogen ion doped into respective regions of the thin film transistor after an ion-doping process to form the source and drain regions of the CMOS thin film transistor of FIGS. 3A to 3G;

FIG. 5 is a cross-sectional view illustrating a process of manufacturing a CMOS thin film transistor according to another embodiment of the present invention;

FIG. 6 illustrates a density of a hydrogen ion doped into respective regions of the thin film transistor after an ion-doping process to form the source and drain regions of the CMOS thin film transistor of FIG. 5;

FIG. 7 is a cross-sectional view illustrating a process of manufacturing a CMOS thin film transistor according to yet another embodiment of the present invention; and

FIG. 8 illustrates a graph of a C-V curve of the CMOS thin film transistors according to the conventional art and the present invention.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF PREFFERED EMBODIMENTS

Reference will now be made in detail to the embodiments of the present invention, examples of which are illustrated in the accompanying drawings, wherein like reference numerals refer to like elements throughout.

Hereinafter, a method of manufacturing a thin film transistor according to the present invention is described focusing on a CMOS thin film transistor.

FIGS. 3A to 3G are cross-sectional views illustrating a process of manufacturing a CMOS thin film transistor according to an embodiment of the present invention.

Referring to FIG. 3A, a substrate 30 having a first region 30 a and a second region 30 b is provided. The first region 30 a is a region on which a p-type thin film transistor will be formed, and the second region 30 b is a region on which an n-type thin film transistor will be formed.

A poly silicon layer is deposited and patterned to form first and second semiconductor layers 31 a and 31 b on the first and second regions 30 a and 30 b, respectively.

Referring to FIG. 3B, a gate insulating layer 32 comprising an oxide layer is formed over the entire surface of the substrate 30 to cover the first and second semiconductor layers 31 a and 31 b. A metal layer 33 is deposited on the gate insulating layer 32.

A first photosensitive layer 34 having first and second patterns 34 a and 34 b is formed to a thickness of at least 5,000 Å on the metal layer 33. The first photosensitive layer 34 is made of one of photoresist, acryl, polyimide, and benzocyclobutene (BCB). The first pattern 34 a of the first photosensitive layer 34 is formed over the first semiconductor layer 31 a, and the second pattern 34 b of the first photosensitive layer 34 covers the entire surface of the second region 30 b of the substrate 30.

Thereafter, a hard-baking process is performed at a predetermined temperature in order to remove, for example, water in the early stage, thereby preventing the first photosensitive layer 34 from bursting during a subsequent ion-doping process.

Meanwhile, it is an aspect of the invention that the hard-baking process for the photosensitive layer is performed before the ion-doping process whenever the ion-doping is performed using the photosensitive layer as a mask.

Referring to FIG. 3C, using the first photosensitive layer 34 as a mask, the metal layer 33 is patterned to form a first gate electrode 36 a over the first semiconductor layer 31 a. The portion of the metal layer 33 under the second pattern 34 b of the first photosensitive layer 34 remains without being patterned.

Using the first photosensitive layer 34 as a mask again, a p⁺-type high-density impurity is ion-doped to thereby form first high-density source and drain regions 38 a and 38 b. The first photosensitive layer 34 serves to block the hydrogen ions, decomposed by the ion implanter that employs the ion shower method, from being ion-doped into the underlying layers there under. The first photosensitive layer 34 is then removed.

Referring to FIG. 3D, a second photosensitive layer 40 having first and second patterns 40 a and 40 b is formed on the metal layer 33. The first pattern 40 a of the second photosensitive layer 40 covers the entire surface of the first region 30 a of the substrate 30, and the second pattern 40 b of the second photosensitive layer 40 is formed over the second semiconductor layer 31 b.

Referring to FIG. 3E, the portion of the metal layer 33 covering the entire surface of the second region 30 b is patterned using the second pattern 40 b of the second photosensitive layer 40 as a mask to thereby form a second gate electrode 36 b.

Using the second photosensitive layer 40 as a mask again, an n⁻-type low-density impurity is ion-doped into the second semiconductor layer 31 b to form low-density source and drain regions 42 a and 42 b. The second photosensitive layer 40 is then removed.

Referring to FIG. 3F, a third photosensitive layer 44 having first and second patterns 44 a and 44 b is formed. The first pattern 44 a of the third photosensitive layer 44 covers the entire surface of the first region 30 a of the substrate 30. The second pattern 44 b of the third photosensitive layer 44 has a greater width than the second gate electrode 36 b to so surround the second gate electrode 36 b.

Using the third photoresist layer 44 as a mask, an n⁺-type high-density impurity is ion-doped into the second semiconductor layer 31 b to form second high-density source and drain regions 46 a and 46 b. The third photosensitive layer 44 is then removed, as illustrated in FIG. 3G. Consequently, the CMOS thin film transistor according to the present invention is completed.

FIG. 4 illustrates a density of a hydrogen ion doped into respective regions of the thin film transistor after an ion-doping process to form the source and drain regions of the CMOS thin film transistor according to the process illustrated in FIGS. 3A through 3G.

As illustrated in FIG. 4, when the impurity is doped, the hydrogen ions cannot be doped into the gate electrode and are therefore only doped into the passivation layer.

FIG. 5 is a cross-sectional view illustrating a process of manufacturing a CMOS thin film transistor according to another embodiment of the present invention.

The method of manufacturing the CMOS thin film transistor according to this embodiment of the present invention is different as far as the process of forming the previous high-density source and drain regions from the first embodiment of the present invention.

After forming the first gate electrode 36 a as illustrated in FIG. 3C, the first photosensitive layer 34 is removed. An impurity shielding layer 54 having first and second patterns 54 a and 54 b is formed.

That is, the first pattern 54 a of the impurity shielding layer 54 is formed on the first gate electrode 36 a, and the second pattern 54 b of the impurity shielding layer 54 is formed on the non-patterned portion of the metal layer 33. The impurity of shielding layer 54 is made of an insulating layer such as an oxide layer, a nitride layer and a silicide layer or a metal layer such as Mo, W, MoW, Al, and AlNd. In the case of the metal layer, the impurity shielding layer 54 has a single- or a multi-layered structure.

Using the impurity shielding layer 54 as a mask, a p⁺-type high-density impurity is ion-doped to thereby form first high-density source and drain regions 38 a and 38 b. The impurity shielding layer 54 blocks the hydrogen ions from being ion-doped into the underlying layers thereunder. The impurity shielding layer 54 is then removed.

Subsequent processes are identical to those of FIGS. 3D to 3G.

FIG. 6 illustrates a density of hydrogen ions doped into respective regions of the thin film transistor after an ion-doping process to form the source and drain regions of the CMOS thin film transistor according to this embodiment of the present invention.

As illustrated in FIG. 6, the hydrogen ions are doped into the gate electrode, but cannot be doped into the semiconductor layer.

FIG. 7 is a cross-sectional view illustrating a process of manufacturing a CMOS thin film transistor according to another embodiment of the present invention.

After forming the gate insulating layer 32, a metal layer 50 is deposited over the entire surface of the substrate 30 as illustrated in FIG. 3A. The metal layer 50 has a thickness and a density enough to block the hydrogen ions from being ion-doped into the channel regions of the first and second semiconductor layers 31 a and 31 b.

Preferably, a thickness of the metal layer 50 is in a range between 3,500 Å to 4,500 Å.

In the case of the metal layer 50 having a thickness of less than 4,000 Å, preferably, the metal layer 50 preferably has a density of 3.5 g/cm³ to 4.5 g/cm³ and is made of a conductive material such as Mo, W, and MoW.

In the case of the metal layer 50 having a thickness of more than 4,000 Å, preferably, the metal layer 50 has a density of 1.5 g/cm³ to 2.5 g/cm³ and is made of a conductive material such as Al and AlNd.

The metal layer 50 has a single- or a multi-layered structure. For example, the metal layer 50 can have a three-layered structure comprising a MoW layer having a thickness of 500 Å, an Al layer having a thickness of 2,000 Å and a MoW layer having a thickness of 500 Å.

Thereafter, the first photosensitive layer 34 having the first and second patterns 34 a and 34 b is formed on the metal layer 50 as illustrated in FIG. 3B. Using the first photosensitive layer 34 as a mask, the metal layer 50 is patterned to form the first gate electrode 36 a. The first photosensitive layer 34 is then removed.

Using the first gate electrode 36 a and the non-patterned portion of the metal layer 50 as a mask, a p⁺-type high-density impurity is ion-doped to thereby form first high-density source and drain regions 38 a and 38 b. Since a thickness and a density of the metal layer 50 are adjusted, the hydrogen ions cannot be ion-doped into the channel regions of the first and second semiconductor layers 31 a and 31 b.

Subsequent processes are identical to those of FIGS. 3D to 3G.

FIG. 8 illustrates a graph of a C-V curve of the CMOS thin film transistors according to the conventional art and the present invention. A vertical axis denotes a ratio C/Cox of a capacitance C between the gate electrode and the substrate with respect to a capacitance Cox of the gate insulating layer. A horizontal axis denotes a voltage Vg applied to the gate electrode.

As can be seen in FIG. 8, in the CMOS thin film transistor according to the present invention, the capacitance C drops sharply at the voltage Vg of about 0 volts, so that the ratio C/Cox is shifted from 0.2 to 1. However, in the CMOS thin film transistor according to the conventional art, the capacitance C drops gradually at the voltage Vg of about 0 volts, so that the ratio C/Cox is shifted from 0.4 to 1. This is because in the case of the conventional CMOS thin film transistor the hydrogen ions are ion-doped to an interface between the semiconductor layer and the gate insulating layer, thereby forming trap sites in the semiconductor layer. However, in the case of the inventive CMOS thin film transistor, it is possible to prevent the hydrogen ions from being ion-doped into the interface between the semiconductor layer and the gate insulating layer, thereby preventing a formation of the trap sites in the semiconductor layers.

The present invention has been described focusing on the CMOS thin film transistor. However, the present invention is not limited to the CMOS thin film transistor. For example, the present invention can be applied to a method of manufacturing just one of a CMOS thin film transistor and a PMOS thin film transistor.

As described above, the thin film transistor manufactured according to the present invention has excellent electrical characteristics such as a threshold voltage and an electron mobility, and a high reliability.

Although a few embodiments of the present invention have been shown and described, it would be appreciated by those skilled in the art that changes may be made in these embodiments without departing from the principles and spirit of the invention, the scope of which is defined in the claims and their equivalents. 

1. A method of manufacturing a thin film transistor, comprising: forming a semiconductor layer on a substrate; forming a gate insulating layer over an entire surface of the substrata to cover the semiconductor layer; depositing a conductive layer on the gate insulating layer; patterning the conductive layer using a photoresist to form a gate electrode and then removing the photoresist, the gate electrode having a density of 1.5 g/cm³ to 2.5 g/cm³ and a thickness of more than 4,000 Å to prevent an impurity from passing therethrough; and ion-doping the impurity into the semiconductor layer using the gate electrode as a mask to form source and drain regions; wherein the impurity comprises hydrogen.
 2. The method according to claim 1, wherein the gate electrode has one or more layers.
 3. The method according to claim 2, wherein the gate electrode comprises at least one of Mo, W, MoW, Al, and AlNd.
 4. The method according to claim 1, wherein the impurity further comprises p⁺-type ions.
 5. The method according to claim 1, wherein the gate electrode comprises Al or AlNd.
 6. The method according to claim 1, wherein the gate electrode has a thickness of 4,000 Å to 4,500 Å.
 7. A method of manufacturing a thin film transistor, comprising: forming a semiconductor layer on a substrate; forming a gate insulating layer over an entire surface of the substrate to cover the semiconductor layer; depositing a conductive layer on the gate insulating layer; forming a non-desired impurity blocking pattern over the conductive layer; patterning the conductive layer according to the non-desired impurity blocking pattern to form a gate electrode having a density of 1.5 g/cm³ to 2.5 g/cm³ and a thickness of more than 4,000 Å; and ion-doping a p⁺-type impurity into the semiconductor layer using the non-desired impurity blocking pattern as a mask blocking penetration of non-desired impurities to form first source and drain regions; wherein the non-desired impurities comprise hydrogen.
 8. The method according to claim 7, wherein the gate electrode has a thickness of 4,000 Å to 4,500 Å.
 9. A thin film transistor, comprising: a semiconductor layer on a substrate; a gate insulating layer over the entire surface of the substrate to cover the semiconductor layer; a conductive layer on the gate insulating layer; and a gate electrode formed by patterning the conductive layer using a photoresist and having a predetermined density and a thickness enough to prevent an impurity from passing therethrough; wherein a hydrogen ion density is constant according to a depth of the semiconductor layer in a channel region of the semiconductor layer.
 10. The thin film transistor according to claim 9, wherein the gate electrode has a thickness of at least 3,500 Å.
 11. The thin film transistor according to claim 10, wherein the gate electrode has a thickness of 4,000 Å to 4,500 Å, and a density of 1.5 g/cm³ to 2.5 g/cm³.
 12. The thin film transistor according to claim 11, wherein the gate electrode is made of Al or AlNd.
 13. The thin film transistor according to claim 9, wherein the gate electrode comprises at least one of Mo, W, MoW, Al, and AlNd.
 14. The thin film transistor according to claim 9, wherein the impurity is p⁺-type ions.
 15. A thin film transistor, comprising: a semiconductor layer on a substrate: a gate insulating layer over the entire surface of the substrate to cover the semiconductor layer; a conductive layer on the gate insulating layer; and a gate electrode formed by patterning the conductive layer using a photoresist and having a thickness of at least 3,500 Å to 4,000 Å and a density of 3.5 g/cm³to 4.5 g/cm³, wherein the gate electrode is made of Mo, W, or MoW; wherein a hydrogen ion density is constant according to a depth of the semiconductor layer in a channel region of the semiconductor layer. 